From the Match Secretary, Ed Thorn.

The club conducted a survey into player satisfaction with the box leagues this winter. The full findings are below, but the overall impression I got was that players are by and large happy with the combination of Scala Sports to record results alongside WhatsApp group to message players and arrange matches. 

Things that players were dissatisfied with were:

1. Players are not happy with the way matches are "scheduled" by the app, which sends players messages saying they have an upcoming match which has not actually been arranged by players. Players familiar with the app ignore this but new box league members might not realise that matches have to be actually arranged between players.
2. Box league winners are not particularly bothered to receive a trophy.
3. Initial placement of players in boxes has not always been appropriate (good new players have been placed too low).
4. It was 50/.50 s to whether the box league should be for a shorter period or stay at 6 months.
5. It's also 50/50 as to whether the 1-set format is ok or should be changed

Full results are at this link.

Following the survey, I contacted the Scala Sports app developer and asked if it was possible to make the following changes:

1. get rid of the automatically scheduled matches and reminder messages
2. make 1-set matches the default but allow alternatives (but leading to the same number of points)
3. move from 6-month boxes to 3-month boxes

Scala got back to me and said:

• opting out of emails regarding scheduled matches is not currently possible but they are working on an "unsubscribe from certain email groups" option
• in the new version of the app, to be released around late April, there will be no set default scoring system, so whatever score you put in will be accepted equally
• 3-month boxes was fine. 

They've also told us that they're not going to increase the charge next year.

The current box leagues will end at the end of March and the next box leagues will start shortly after. The Spring Box League will be 2 months (April and May), after which subsequent boxes will be 3-months. I will assume that players who participated in the Winter Box Leagues will continue in the spring, but I will remove players who didn;t play all winter. Please let me know asap if you wish to:

• join the next box (if you weren't in the winter boxes)
• drop out of the spring box
• want to explain why you didn't play in the winter and ask to stay in the spring

Email me at edwardthorn46@gmail.com 

Thanks, and have a great spring/ summer!